The Potions Tutor
by the-awkward-drarry-shipper
Summary: As if Harry's year wasn't bad enough already. Now he has to have a Potions tutor too? Why can't the universe be on his side for once? Oh yeah... he's Harry Potter. Set during 6th year. Warning(s): mild language and (Eventual) Draco/Harry and everything that Drarry entails! Not your ship? Get off and swim. Disregards most of HBP and DH. Reviews are love! xx
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! This is, what, my second Drarry story? I hope you all like it. Remember: reviews are love! xx**

"Mr. Potter," Professor Slughorn said after Harry destroyed his third potion for the day. "May I speak to you after class?"

Harry sighed and tried to ignore the sniggering of the Slytherins on the other side of the potions classroom. "Yes, sir," he mumbled.

He tried to ignore the fact that Crabbe and Goyle were sniggering and not-so-subtly staring at him. He tried to ignore Parkinson whispering smugly to the pinch-faced girl next to her. And he most certainly tried to ignore the fact that Draco-freaking-Malfoy was staring at him with those grey eyes.

"Ignore them, Harry," Hermione whispered to him from her spot on his left as she patted his hand.

Harry offered her a small smile of thanks and focused back on his ruined potion. It was supposed to be a golden color.

It was baby blue.

How was he going to fix this?

He studied his potions book, trying to find what he did wrong. After a minute of rerunning everything he'd done in his head and looking over the instructions, he finally found it. He was supposed to stir the potion five times clockwise, six counter clockwise. He'd done the opposite.

So how did he fix that? Should he start over? He'd already started over twice and the class period was almost over, anyway.

The bell rang.

See?

Harry vanished the potion and began to pack up his stuff like the others.

"Want us to wait, Harry?" Ron asked.

Harry smiled at his friends and shook his head, "No, I don't want you to be late for your next class. I have my free period next, anyway. Go on. I'll see you at dinner, yeah?"

"Yeah," they both answered simultaneously.

As Ron and Hermione walked out of the classroom, Harry turned towards Professor Slughorn, who was standing at his desk, staring at Harry.

"You wanted to talk to me, sir?" Harry asked as he stepped towards the potions professor.

"Yes, Harry," Professor Slughorn said as he picked up some papers from his desk and began to rifle through them. "I wanted to talk to you about your potion making."

Harry sighed and ran a hand over his face tiredly. "I'm sorry, Professor," he said apologetically. "It's just, I've been really tired lately and have had a lot on my mind and—"

"Harry," Professor Slughorn said gently. "I understand that with everything that happen last year with Voldemort and your godfather—"

Harry winced and bowed his head.

"—that you may have a lot on your mind and I understand that Potions is the last thing you want to think about. It would be the last thing on mine as well. But I let you attend my Advance Potions class because I knew you had potential. You still do. I just wish you would apply yourself a bit more. Your grades have been slipping and I don't want you to fail this class, Harry. That's why I think it would be best if I assigned you a tutor for the remainder of the year."

Harry head shot up and he stared at Professor Slughorn with wide eyes. "A-A tutor, sir?" he stammered.

Professor Slughorn nodded. "Yes, a tutor. Just to help you with your homework and on any potions that you may not understand. I think it would help you greatly. So what do you say?"

Harry cautiously stared at the Professor. "Who would it be, sir?" he asked quietly.

Professor Slughorn smiled and, seemingly proud of himself for getting Harry to agree with him, said, "Draco Malfoy."

**AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! Sorry. XD I'm overly excited and I don't even know why. Remember guys: reviews are love! Hopefully, I'll have the second chapter up soon! xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi**,** guys! I'm back with chapter #2! I hope you enjoy! (Responses to reviews are at the bottom)**

**Word count: 1,671**

* * *

Where we left off:

_Harry cautiously stared at the Professor. "Who would it be, sir?" he asked quietly._

_Professor Slughorn smiled and, seemingly proud of himself for getting Harry to agree with him, said, "Draco Malfoy."_

* * *

"Can you_ believe_ him? How _dare_ he? Assign me to tutor _Potter _of all people? And in _Potions_? He's _hopeless_! Potter would manage to blow up a potion if it had _already been brewed for him_! What had Professor Slughorn been _thinking_?"

Draco Malfoy was currently pacing angrily around his private bedroom and ranting furiously to his best friends Blaise and Daphne. Blaise and Daphne didn't know whether to be sympathetic or amused about the situation.

"I mean, first my parents, then the Dark Lord and Bellatrix, then Sev trying to get every possible ounce of information out of me, and now_ this_? I didn't sign up to tutor anybody! Never mind _Harry-Bleeding-Potter!"_

Blaise shot Daphne a devious grin before saying to Draco, "Why don't you take this opportunity to finally do to Potter what you've wanted to do since last year? Fu-"

Daphne gasped and clapped a hand over Blaise's mouth as Draco glowered at him and growled out, "Don't start, Zabini!"

Blaise laughed and pried Daphne's hand away from his face, "Just saying, mate! How's the perfect opportunity to-"

"You _really_ want me to hex you, don't you?" Draco snapped.

Blaise only laughed.

"When's the first tutoring session?" Daphne asked hastily, trying to distract Draco from trying to kill Blaise with his glare.

Draco sighed and raked a hand down his face, "Tomorrow night at eight. Professor Slughorn's going to bring him here."

Daphne raised an eyebrow, "He's going to bring him to your room?"

Draco shrugged.

"Just like I said!" Blaise cut in. "The perfect time to-"

"How long?" Daphne asked as she clapped a hand over Blaise's mouth again.

"Until I think he's got the potion we're working on. And then I'm supposed to help him with any Potions homework he has that he may be having trouble with." Draco scowled, "It's not bloody fair."

"Life's not fair," Blaise shrugged-the same playful look in his eyes- as he shook Daphne's hand off again, "Deal with it."

"I'm seriously about to hex your balls off."

* * *

"Are you sure, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Well, I can't exactly disobey a teacher, can I, Ron?" Harry said glumly as he slung his bag with all his school things over his shoulder.

"Why not?" Ron exclaimed. "You've done it before!"

"I know," Harry answered simply. "But I'm really not in the mood to have detention right now and Professor Slughorn's right. My grades are improving and if it means putting up with Draco-bleeding-Malfoy, I'm willing. I'm determined to try harder this year."

Ron's eyes suddenly seemed to light up with realization and he nodded in understanding, "Alright, mate. But don't hesitate to walk out if he starts to get in you nerves. Or punch him in the face. Doesn't matter to me."

Harry grinned and nodded, "I'll keep that in mind." He glanced at the muggle clock that Ron had placed on the wall after he got it as a Christmas present from his father and sighed. "I better get going. I don't know how long I'll be, so don't wait up."

Ron nodded though he mentally made a vow to himself to wait to go to sleep untill his friend got back. "Good luck!" He called as Harry walked out the portrait door.

Ron sighed and leant back against the couch. He rubbed his forehead and shook his head.

"Has Harry already left?" Hermione asked as she sprinted down the stairs.

"Yeah," Ron answered. "Why?"

"I wanted to wish him luck," Hermione answered, her face clouded with disappointment.

"He said he didn't know when he'd get back, so we shouldn't wait up for him."

Hermione snorted, "He should know better."

Ron nodded his agreement, sighed, and ran a hand down his face. "I'm worried about him, 'Mione," he admitted quietly. "Ever since Sirius and You-Know-Who..."

"I know," Hermione agreed.

"He hasn't been sleeping all that well."

"I know."

"He doesn't eat much, either."

"I know."

"And—"

"Ron!" Hermione interrupted, a sad, yet understanding look on her face. "I know."

* * *

Harry was really dreading this. Like really, _really_ dreading this. Yes, he needed tutoring in Potions. Even _he_ admitted he was terrible. But did he really have to be tutored by _Draco-bleeding-Malfoy_? Why couldn't he be tutored by Hermione? Or even _Slughorn_?

Being tutored by Draco would only give the Slytherin even more opportunities to patronize Harry. He already did that enough _outside_ of Potions! That was the last thing he needed.

Well, not really this year, but that was beside the point.

Harry sighed dejectedly as he trudged up to the Potions classroom and walked in. Professor Slughorn was sitting at his desk in the front of the room. A frown marred his face as he stared at the Potions essay in front of him as if he was trying to figure out what it said.

"Professor?" Harry asked tentatively as he took a step forward.

"Ah, Harry," Professor Slughorn looked up from the Potions essay and smiled at the sixth year. "I assume you're here so that I can take you to where you and Mr. Malfoy will be studying?"

"Yes, sir," Harry responded.

"Very well, then," Slughorn said as he stood and stretched. "It would do me well to look away from these first year Potions essays for a while, don't you think?"

Harry didn't respond.

"Come alone, then, Mr. Potter," Slughorn led the way out of the classroom and back down the hallway Harry had just come from.

Harry followed silently, but noticed that they were heading in the opposite direction of the Slytherin side of the castle _and_ the library. So where were they going?

"Sir?" Harry asked. "Where are we going? I thought Malfoy was going to tutor me in either the Slytherin common room or the library?"

"No, no," Slughorn shook his head. "You're going to be studying in Mr. Malfoy's room, of course."

"But," Harry frowned. "Doesn't he stay in the Slytherin dormitories?"

"Oh, no, no, no," Slughorn smiled as if that was a silly question. "Mr. Malfoy stays in on of the smaller towers in Hogwarts. Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape thought it best that Mr. Malfoy has his own room this year."

Harry was very tempted to ask why Malfoy would need his own room, but knew from past experience that he wouldn't get any answers. So he kept his mouth shut and decided that he didn't really care.

"Here we are," Slughorn said, stopping in front of a portrait of an older wizard with silver hair that was tied back in a braid that hung over his shoulder. He was wearing traditional Slytherin robes and regarded with a cool calmness that reminded Harry very much of Snape when he'd wasn't taking points from Gryffindor or making fun of the students.

"Gentlemen," the wizard said. "I am Salazar Slytherin. What might you be doing here today?"

Harry stared in shock. So this was Salazar Slytherin, the founder of Slytherin house.

"Harry here is being tutored by Mr. Malfoy in Potions," Slughorn answered. "Tonight is their first session."

"Ah," Salazar peered at Harry over his (what appeared to be) gold glasses. "Harry Potter, I presume?"

"Yes, sir," Harry answered, surprised at how strong his voice sounded, even though he was shaking like a leaf on the inside.

"Hmm," Salazar said thoughtfully. "I've always admired your courage, Mr. Potter, even though it has gotten you into a right bit of trouble in the past."

Harry didn't know if he was more shocked by the compliment of the teasing in Salazar's eyes.

"Thank you?"

Salazar chuckled—almost warmly—and his portrait swung aside, revealing a long, winding stair case that was lit by flaming torches along the walls. "Go on," the portrait said. "And for future reference, Mr. Potter, the password is 'Boomslang.'"

* * *

Draco paced nervously inside his room, trying to calm his nerves. It wouldn't do well for him to be shaking like a life as he was now when Potter got here. He checked over the supplies he'd set out for the seventeenth time. Caldron. Parchment. Quills. Potions supplies. Bandages. Gauze. Blood-replenishing potion. Yeah. He had everything they would need. So why was he so nervous about tutoring Harry Potter?

Oh, yeah.

Because ever since third year madly, irrevocably in love with him.

And considering the fact that Harry hated him, he had a right to be nervous, right?

Draco shook his head in disgust with himself and raked a hand through his hair, then raced to the bathroom to flatten it back down.

He walked back to the living room area of his private room and resumed his pacing. Daphne had told him many times not to be nervous. It was only a tutoring session. Nothing would go wrong.

She seemed to have forgotten that it was a tutoring session with _Harry-bleeding-Potter_.

Draco froze when someone knocked on the door.

Shit.

After he took a deep breath to try one last time to calm his nerves, he straightened himself, patted down his clothes, walked over to the door, and threw it opened with all his Malfoy dignity.

"Potter."

"Malfoy."

* * *

**Welp. That's the end of chapter 2. I hope you all enjoyed! Remember, reviews are love!**

**Insane Worm: **Thanks a bunch! :) Keep reading a reviewing!

**juventus: **:)

**Oh! And follow me on Titter: KellyLandrum2**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hiiiiiiiii! So, here's chapter 3! Remember, reviews are love!**

_After he took a deep breath to try one last time to calm his nerves, he straightened himself, patted down his clothes, walked over to the door, and threw it opened with all his Malfoy dignity._

_"Potter."_

_"Malfoy."_

Harry tried his best not to shuffle his feat nervously as he stood under Draco's cool gaze. He did his best to meet Draco's eyes, but found that the shining silver was almost overwhelming and felt his gaze slipping to the floor. For some unknown reason, he felt intimidated under the Slytherin's scrutiny. In the past, the gaze would have rejuvenated him, made him stand taller, if only to show the Slytherin that he—Draco—was not any better than the rest of them. But now, Harry felt himself almost cowering under the sharp stare.

Draco watched curiously as Harry shifted nervously at the door and tried to calm his nerves. It was just a tutoring session that would only last an hour or so (hopefully). And besides, what harm could Harry do in that short amount of time?

_A lot_, a smug little voice said in the back of Draco's head.

_Shut up_, he answered.

Harry glanced up momentarily and Draco caught sight of the beautiful emerald orbs that he'd fallen in love with. But as soon as he saw them, they were gone as Harry turned his gaze back to (apparently) very interesting shoes.

"Well!" Professor Slughorn clapped his hands cheerily, oblivious to the tension between the two sixth years. "I suppose I should leave and let you two get at it—"

Draco winced.

"—So, I'll head back to my office and continue grading papers. I'll see you tomorrow in class, boys!"

Draco watched as Professor Slughorn nearly bounded back down the winding staircase that led up to Draco's rooms and then turned back to the boy in front of him. Harry continued to shuffle his feet and stare at the floor nervously. When he didn't say anything, Draco put on his best cold voice and said, "Well, Potter? Aren't you going to come in?"

He saw Harry flinch very slightly, but decided to ignore it and decided to lead the way into the den area of his room. "Shut the door behind you!" he called harshly behind him as he plopped down on the armchair in front of the fireplace.

He heard the door shut quietly and quiet, almost silent footsteps walking towards him. "Sit on the couch," he said before Harry could even ask.

Harry sighed almost inaudibly and laid his bag down beside him as he sat down on the edge of the couch. He wordlessly began to take out his potions equipment, a piece of parchment, and a quill.

The two boys sat in tense silence for a long while before Harry finally sighed and said quietly, "Should we start?"

Draco almost looked startled when Harry was the first one to break the silence. "Y-yeah," he said and mentally cursed himself for stuttering like a fool. "Let's get this over with."

KKKK

They had been studying for forty-five minutes and neither one of them had made any snide comments toward the other, which was surprising in itself. Harry had actually been doing pretty well and he—grudgingly—admitted that Draco was actually pretty good at explaining what they were doing. He actually understood some of it now.

"Okay, so what was next?" Draco asked and Harry pulled out the list Professor Slughorn had made for them to go over.

"Um… which ingredients can be deadly if used in the wrong potion," Harry answered softly as he sat the list back down.

"Hmm," Draco frowned. "I don't know if I feel comfortable going over this with you of all people."

Harry's jaw dropped, but not because of the implied insult, but because of the teasing tone of Draco's voice and the mischievous look in his grey eyes.

"Did you actually just make a joke?" Harry spluttered.

Draco glowered at him as he tried to cover up his slip up. "Of course not, Potter," he snapped. "I'm being dead serious. You could get us both killed with your Potions skills."

Harry huffed and lowered his gaze back to the Potions book in front of him. "Just help me with this so I can leave," he mumbled.

Draco frowned at him, but scooted a bit closer to the Gryffindor to get a better look inside the book. "Okay, so…" and he launched off into explanation again.

KKKK

"Well," Draco said uncomfortably as Harry closed his Potions book. "I guess we're done for the day."

And then he smacked himself mentally for saying something so stupid.

"Yeah," Harry answered quietly as he packed all his things back in his bag. "I guess I'll leave, then. How often do we meet?"

"Professor Slughorn said twice a week, so… Thursday? Same time?" Draco said.

"Yeah, that would be fine," Harry gave Draco a small smile, but Draco frowned suddenly.

"Don't you have Quidditch on Thursdays, though?"

Harry shook his head, "No. I'm not doing Quidditch this year."

"Why?"

Harry looked at him oddly.

"Never mind. I don't care," Draco said quickly. Then he grinned, "Automatic wins for Slytherin!"

Harry rolled his eyes and slung his bag over his shoulder. "I'll see you on Thursday, Draco."

It took a minute for both of them to realize that Harry had called Draco by his first name, and when Harry did, he shook his head at himself and started towards the door.

In that moment, Draco made a split second decision, and he blurted, "Harry, wait!"

Harry stopped and turned around, looking curiously at Draco. "What?"

"Um…" Draco spluttered. "I-I… I was just thinking that—you know—we actually made it through today without saying anything rude to each other, and… and… that's progress right? So… so… maybe we can… you know… try to be… um… friends? 'Cause… I think that this whole feud thing between us has gone on long enough, right? Maybe we could… you know… try?"

Draco mentally cursed himself for stuttering like a fool in front of Harry and lowered his eyes to the ground sheepishly.

Harry blinked stupidly at the blond. Did he really just ask to… be friends with Harry? He opened and closed his mouth several times as he searched for how to respond to Draco's question. They had been school enemy's for the last six years. All Draco had ever done was spite Harry and his friends and he had never tried to apologize for any of it. So should Harry try?

Draco obviously took Harry's silence the wrong way and snapped his gaze up. "Never mind," he said quickly, turning away. "It was a stupid question. I know… I know you'd never forgive me."

Harry's hand whipped forward and grabbed onto the blond's wrist before he could walk away. "Wait," he said softly.

Draco startled visibly at the electric shock that Harry's touch sent through his body. He turned slowly and looked confusedly into Harry's eyes.

"You didn't let me answer," Harry smiled softly at him. "I think it would be great to give friendship a try. I mean, we are going to have to spend time with each other twice a week, right? It'd be no fun if we hated each other."

A slow, but genuine, grin started to spread itself across Draco's face and Harry had to admire how young and boyish and… cute it made him look.

"That'd be amazing, Harry."


	4. Chapter 4

**Heeeeeeeelllllllloooooooo, ppppppeeeeeeooooopppppplllllllleeeeeee! Sorry, I'm just really excited, cause it's been like two weeks and I haven't been able to upload because my computer decided to be stupid and break, but I turned it one today, and it's working again, and now I'm rambling, and this is a terrible run-on sentence. *takes large breath* Sorry, I'm calm now. Kind of. Deranged hippies. **

**Anyway, here's chapter four. I hope you all like. And I have chapter five AND six finished, I just have to type them up and upload, but you have to REVIEW before I do! Reviews are love! They are what keep me going on here! So read, review, favorite. That's all you have to do to make me happy. I am very easily pleased. **

**So, here's chapter four. I hope you all enjoy! **

For some unknown reason, Harry felt giddy and… happy for the rest of the night. To be completely honest, he couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled like he was now.

And the weird thing was, he didn't even know why he felt so ridiculously happy.

Ron and Hermione looked at him oddly when he almost bounced into the Common Room, and Harry knew he would have looked at himself like that as well, but he still rolled his eyes at them.

"What?" he grinned as he plopped down in an armchair beside them.

"Nothing," Hermione averted her eyes quickly and cleared her throat uncomfortably.

"What happened?" Ron asked bluntly, narrowing his eyes at his friend.

Harry rolled his eyes again, "Nothing. He helped me with Potions. That's it."

"Seriously?" Ron asked disbelievingly.

"Seriously."

Ron "hmph"d and sank back into his chair and crossed his arms sullenly.

"What crawled up his arse and died?" Harry stage-whispered to Hermione, who snorted with laughter.

"Nothing," she answered, grinning at her red-headed friend. "He's just upset that he doesn't have an excuse to hex Malfoy."

Harry laughed quietly as Ron glared at the both of them. He stood and stretched. "Well," he said as he picked up his bag. "I suppose I'll head off to bed. I'll se you both tomorrow."

"I'll be up in a little while," Ron called after him.

Harry nodded in acknowledgement and all but bounded up the stairs, a smile on his face.

Ron stared after him and sighed. "Something happened, 'Mione," he said, a frown marring his face. "I can feel it. Why won't he tell us? Do you think Malfoy hurt him?"

Hermione was staring after Harry as well. "I don't think so, Ron," she said quietly. "Something may have happened, but that doesn't mean that it was necessarily _bad._ Let's not question if for now, okay? That's the brightest I've seen Harry smile in a long time."

**_HPDMHPDMHPDM_**

"Well? What happened?"

Draco sighed. He'd known Daphne and Blaise would interrogate him, but he'd hoped they'd give him at least a night's rest to clear his brain.

"Nothing," he answered as he sank into an armchair and Daphne closed the door.

"Don't give us that crap, Draco," Blaise rolled his eyes. "Since when has 'nothing' ever happened with you?"

Draco sighed and ran a hand down his face. "I helped him with Potions, asked him to be my friend, he said yes, and then he left."

"Wait, wait, wait," Daphne held up a hand. "You _did_ what?"

"I asked him to be my friend," Draco shrugged. "And he said yes."

Daphne sighed and closed her eyes. "Draco," she said softly. "Do you not realize how dangerous that is for you and Potter both? You could get him killed! _You_ could be killed!"

"I'm well aware of the risks, Daphne," Draco said quietly, standing. "Isn't it past curfew?"

Daphne looked hurt at the obvious dismissal and opened her mouth to protest, but Blaise put a restraining hand on her shoulder, silencing her. "Come on," he said quietly. "Let's leave Draco alone for the night."

Daphne huffed and, without another word, stormed out of the room.

"Sorry 'bout her, mate," Blaise gave Draco a small, apologetic smile. "She's just worried. I, for one, am happy for you. You've been pining over him since fourth year. It's about time you two put that feud behind you."

Draco smiled softly, gratefully, "Thank you, Blaise. That means a lot."

Blaise grinned and clapped Draco one the shoulder. "See you tomorrow, mate."

Once Blaise was gone, Draco smiled and leant his hip against the glass coffee table that sat in the middle of the room. He stared in the crackling fire contemplatively. He and Harry Potter were friends. _He and Harry Potter were friends._

_Bloody hell._

A ridiculously large grin spread itself across his face and a laugh escaped him before he could stop it. He never thought he'd see the day when he would call himself Harry Potter's—his former enemy's—_friend._

Feeling ridiculously giddy, Draco bounded into his room to prepare for bed. He wasn't surprised to find that he wished tomorrow was Thursday.

_**HPDMHPDMHPDM**_

Draco slumped down onto the cold bench at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall the next morning with a tired sigh. He'd been too wound up last night to get any proper sleep, and it was coming back to bite him now.

"G'morning, Draco!" Blaise said brightly, clapping him on the back.

"Morning," Draco mumbled, resting his head on the table.

"Ah," Draco grinned knowingly. "Too busy thinking about Potter last night to really sleep? Well, it looks like Potter had the same problem."

Draco lifted his head up slowly to look over at the Gryffindor table. Harry was sitting in his normal spot with Weasley and Granger flanking him on either side. Harry had dark circles under his eyes and he was staring at the food in front of him tiredly.

As if he could sense his gaze, Harry's head shot up, and emerald green met shocking grey.

Harry gave him a small but genuine smile across the hall and Draco's heart fluttered in his chest. He smiled back at Harry and felt immense satisfaction when a delicate blush rose onto the Gryffindor's cheeks, so obviously noticeable from across the Hall.

Weasley noticed the interaction, frowned, and elbowed Harry in the side, effectively catching his attention.

As soon as Harry's green eyes left his own, Draco blinked, then growled in frustration at the Weasley idiot.

Blaise laughed heartily beside him and clapped him on the back. "Tough, mate," he chuckled.

"Oh, be nice, Blaise," Daphne chided.

"What?" Blaise snapped. "You're the one who threw a fit over Draco and Potter's friendship and—"

Draco tuned his two arguing friends out and focused his attention back to the Gryffindor table. To his dismay, Harry was standing and gathering his things, obviously heading to his first class of the day. Harry met his eyes one last time before he, Weasley, and Granger left the Great Hall. He gave Draco one last smiled and, before Draco could reacts, slipped out of the Great Hall with his two friends.

Draco smiled to himself. Harry had never smiled at him like that before—what of the few times he'd smiled at him—and Draco hoped Harry would smile at him like that more often.

Draco was startled out of his thoughts as his beautiful eagle-owl Magnificus* landed directly in front of him. The owl gently nipped Draco's fingers affectionately and Draco fed him a bit of toast. The owl held outhis leg, where a piece of golden parchment with elegant green lettering written on it.

Draco swallowed back the lump that had suddenly lodge itself in his throat and shakily took the letter.

He knew exactly who the letter was from.

He opened it.

_Draco,_

_ The Dark Lord wants to know of your progress on your mission._

_ Your Father_

"Draco," Daphne said worriedly, reaching for the letter. "What does it say?"

"None of your business!" Draco snapped, stuffing the letter into his bag and standing. "See you at lunch."

**So, there's chapter four. I hope you all enjoyed. Don't forget: review, favorite. I love you all!**

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	5. Chapter 5

"Harry! Ron! Hermione! Wait up!"

Harry and his two friends turned to see a beaming Neville hurrying toward tehm. He somehow managed to trip when he was five feet in front of them, and he and all his supplies tumbled to the floor.

"Gravity works," he grunted as Harry bent down to help him.

Harry laughed quietly and handed Neville his Divination book. "You all right, mate?" he grinned, clapping Neville on the back.

Neville beamed happily undeterred by his sudden fall. "Yep."

"What're _you_ so happy 'bout, Neville?" Ron asked, looking amused at Neville's bubbly attitude.

Neville blushed suddenly and ducked his head, mumbling something incoherently.

"What was that?" Harry grinned.

"N-nothing," Neville stammered. "I have to head to Herbology, before I'm late. See you later."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione watched in amused silence as Neville scurried away from them.

"I wonder who he is," Harry mused, hiking his bag higher up on his shoulder.

"'He'?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, yeah," Ron answered. "Neville's gay. But you didn't hear that from us. He asked us not to tell anyone."

"He's apparently found someone, though," Harry continued, smiling. "He's been completely smitten for two months, now. He won't tell us who it is, though, no matter how much Ron, Dean, Seamus, and I ask him."

"That's sweet," Hermione smiled. "But you shouldn't ask him about it if he doesn't want to talk about it."

"Oh, please, 'Mione," Ron rolled his eyes. "Don't sit there and tell us that you aren't the least bit curious on who can make Neville smile like he just was."

"Well, of course I am," Hermione rolled her eyes back. "But I have enough tact to know _not_ when to ask certain questions." She shot a pointed look at Ron, who raised his hands defensively..

"Hey, Harry," Ron said suddenly, turning his narrowed gaze on his friend. "What was going on between you and Malfoy at breakfast?"

Hermione rolled her eyes at her friend while Harry fought off a blush. "What do you mean?"

Ron made an exasperated sound, "Don't play dumb, Harry. The 'goo-goo' eyes you were shooting at him and that _he was shooting at you. _What was that all about?"

"I seriously have no idea what you're talking about," Harry huffed and, ignoring Ron's frustrated groan and Hermione's quiet snickers, walked off down the hall towards Transfiguration.

**HPDMHPDMHPDM**

"Draco."

Draco jumped violently at the sound of his godfather's silky voice behind him. He whirled around and, clutching a hand over his heart, hissed, "Dammit, Sev!"

Snape's eyes narrowed, "Language."

Draco rolled his eyes and huffed impatiently, "What do you want? I'm gonna be late for Charms."

Something in Snape's eyes changed, almost taking on a concerned glint, "I saw your reaction to your father's letter. What did he say?"

Draco's eyes seemed to harden even more and he turned away. "What is it with everyone wanting to know what the letter said?" he asked quietly. "What my father and I talk about is none of your business. Wasn't it you that taught me to respect people's privacy? Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to be late."

Snape growled in frustration as Draco stormed away.

HPDMHPDMHPDM

Draco huffed angrily as he stormed down the hallway towards his charms class. He'd informed Snape at the beginning of the year that whatever Draco and his father or Draco and that Dark Lord talked about was strictly between them and that Severus wasn't to interfere. He should've known his godfather would've stuck his nose were it didn't belong.

Draco blinked back tears.

"Oof!"

Draco had sharply turned a corner and slammed right into someone. He and all his things slammed to the floor with a loud BANG!

"Dammit!" he cursed, sitting up and, without looking at the person he'd ran into, began to pick up his books. "Watch where you're going!"

"Draco?"

Draco froze at the sound of the familiar voice to his right. He looked over sharply and saw bright green eyes blinking in his general direction. Harry was feeling blindly along the ground, searching for his glasses, which had been knocked off his face when Draco had ran into him, and were lying a good ways away from him.

"Shit, Harry, I'm sorry," Draco gasped, dropping his things, scrambling over, and picked up Harry's glasses. He knelt in front of the Gryffindor and gently placed the glasses back on Harry's face, situation them so that they weren't crooked. Big green eyes blinked up at him and Draco felt his heart flutter in his chest.

"Are you okay?" he asked the Gryffindor softly, holding out a hand to keep the smaller boy up.

"I'm fine," Harry blushed as he took Draco's hand and let the blond haired boy pull him up off the floor. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Draco smiled, unconsciously running his thumb over the back of Harry's hand.

Harry's face turned even redder under Draco's affectionate administrations.

Draco suddenly seemed to realize that he was _still_ holding Harry's hand. His cheeks turned a light pink and he dropped Harry's hand with a nervous chuckle, he bent down and picked up Harry's books. "Here," he handed a still blushing Harry his books.

"T-thanks," Harry smiled at him softly and Draco would've done anything to get Harry to smile at him like that everyday.

The bell rang.

Both Harry and Draco both blinked, coming out of the daze they had been in while staring into each other's eyes.

"Well," Draco grinned, bending down to pick up his books yet again. "I guess we're both late."

"Yeah," Harry smiled. "I guess we are."

"Well," Draco said, straightening. "I guess we should get going, yeah? I'll see you in Potions."

"Yeah," Harry answered stupidly.

And, grin still firmly in place, Draco walked off down the hall, the opposite way from which he had come, leaving a happy, but confused Harry behind.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry plopped down onto the uncomfortable chair next to the small hospital bed with the plain, snow white sheets with a tired, dejected sigh.

Sirius looked the same now as he had last week and the week before than and the week before that: pale, weak, and incredibly fragile in the hospital bed.

Harry took Sirius' hand and pressed his godfather's palm against his cheek.

"Hey, Padfoot," he whispered to the comatose man. "How're you? Things at Hogwarts are good. No one's tried to kill me yet, so I guess that's a plus. Professor Slughorn assigned me a tutor in Potions, though. You'll never guess who it is either. Draco Malfoy. Yeah, I know. I couldn't believe it, either. I mean, it's kinda common knowledge that Draco and I hate each other. Or—" Harry smiled softly. "—or we _used_ to hate each other. He asked me to be his friend the other day, you know? I was about to leave after our first tutoring session and he stopped me. He seemed nervous when he was asking too, you know? Like he thought I was gonna say no. And then today we ran into each other in the hallway—literally. He helped me up and then he just… held my hand, and he wouldn't let it go. But it didn't feel weird. It was warm and… nice and it sent tingles throughout my arm, as cliché as that sounds. And… and I think I might like him. Like… _like_, like him. I've known for a while now that I was gay, and Draco's always been attractive to me, but I guess I've never really thought about it until recently. He was just suddenly so _nice_ to me, you know? And it was like I was seeing him for the first time."

Harry sighed, the soft smile that had been gracing his face throughout his speech falling. "And sometimes," he continued, more to himself than to his comatose godfather. "Sometimes I fell like I'm going mad. I mean, here I am, telling my godfather, who's in a coma, something that I would never have the guts to tell him if he were awake. Before I know it, I'll be thinking he's talking back."

"You should keep talking to him," said a new voice behind him, startling Harry immensely. "He may be able to hear you. If he hears you, he may find the willpower to live, and then he may actually be able to talk back to you."

Harry turned to see Sirius' Healer, Healer Johnson, standing in the doorway, smiling kindly at him. Healer Johnson was an elderly man in his mid sixties with graying hair and kind hazel eyes who had obviously seen his fair share of battles. Scars lined his arms and what little Harry could see of the man's chest. A long, jagged, white scar ran from his right temple to his jaw line and when caught off guard, his eyes held a certain haunted quality in them that Harry saw in all the war veterans' eyes that walked the halls of St. Mungos. But despite that, he was still one of the nicest people Harry had met here.

Harry gave a slightly bitter chuckle, "Wasn't it you that told me that those chances were slim?"

"Yes," Healer Johnson stepped forward, placing a reassuring hand on Harry's shoulder. "But I didn't say that it was zero percent, did I? There's still hope. You just have to put your faith and trust in Sirius and _never give up on him."_

"I won't," Harry said firmly. "Never."

"That's good," Healer Johnson smiled. "He's gonna need you when he wakes up."

_**HPDMHPDMHPDM**_

"Harry?"

Harry lifted his head from the side of Sirius' bed and smiled softly at the figure in the doorway.

"Hi, Kayla," he smiled softly at the little girl and beckoned her forward. "Come sit with me."

Kayla was a five year old witch with Leukemia with reddish-brown hair that was (sadly) falling out in chunks and bright brown eyes. She was a lively young girl who always came to visit Harry whenever he would come see Sirius. She always seemed to make Harry's day a little bit brighter.

Kayla's eyes brightened and she bounded over to him before crawling into his lap. "Are you visiting your godfather again?" she asked, leaning back into his chest.

"Yes, I am," Harry agreed, chuckling quietly. "I gotta keep him company so he doesn't get lonely."

Kayla sighed wistfully. "Your godfather is lucky to have you. I wish my parents would come see me."

Harry's eyes darkened slightly in anger. Kayla's parents had abandoned her shortly after Kayla had been diagnosed, claiming they wouldn't afford her treatment, even though Harry found, after looking into the family name, that they were a rather wealthy pureblood family.

Harry was paying for her treatment and, after trying and failing many times to contact any family at all of Kayla's, had vowed to come to see Kayla at least twice a week when he was allowed to come see Sirius.

"You have me," he told the little girl firmly. "I'll never leave you like your parents."

Harry's heart swelled almost painfully when Kayla looked up at him with those big eyes and very simply said, "I know."

Harry smiled, kissed her forehead, and asked, "So what all happened since I've been gone?"

Kayla brightened and launched into a tale about how Timmy had stolen the teddy bear Harry had gotten her for her birthday and wouldn't give it back until Kayla threatened to tell. Harry listened happily, content to stay here forever and simply listen to Kayla's bright young voice babble on happily.

All too soon, however, a nurse came in and said, "Kayla, it's time for bed."

Harry looked up in surprise, astonished to find that it was almost nine thirty. Kayla made an unhappy sound, "Can't I just stay here a bit longer?"

Harry chuckled fondly. "C'mon, Kayla," he said, standing and settling the girl on his hip. "Let's get you to bed. I'll even tuck you in."

The nurse made a surprised sound, "Oh, you don't have to do that, Mr. Potter!"

"It's okay," Harry chuckled. "I want to."

The nurse nodded and, after bidding Harry and Kayla goodnight, left the room.

Keeping a firm hand on Kayla to keep her from falling, Harry bent down and grasped Sirius' hand tightly. "I'll see you in a few days, Sirius," he whispered.

As they walked back to the children's ward, Kayla rested her head against Harry's shoulder tiredly. "Will you tell me that… Cinderella? Yeah. That Cinderella story again before I go to bed?"

"Of course," Harry smiled as he opened the door to Kayla's room. "Let's get you into pajamas and brush your teeth first."

After dressing Kayla in her favorite purple pajamas and helping her brush her teeth, both Harry and Kayla settled onto Kayla's bed with Kayla resting contentedly against Harry's chest.

Harry loosely wrapped his arms around the girl and launched into his tale.

"Once upon a time…"

_**HPDMHPDMHPDM**_

"And they lived happily ever after," Harry looked down and smiled when he saw that Kayla had fallen asleep. Harry gently lifted the girl up so that he could slip out from under her and gently rest her sleeping form back against the pillows. As he tucked the blankets snugly around her, he leaned down, kissed her forehead, and whispered, "Sweet dreams, Kayla. I'll be back soon. I promise."

**AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! Sirius! He's alive! Did you see it coming? Hehehe XD And what did you think of Kayla? I named her after my best friend Kayla who also happens to write fanfiction for Harry Potter, South Park, Hunger Games, and many more! Go check her out. Her username is: Revengeful Desire. Go check out some of her stories! **

**Review, review, review! I have chapter seven finished and I'm working on chapter eight! The more you review, the faster I'll update! :)**

**Follow me on Twitter: drarry_shipper**

**I love you all!**


	7. Chapter 7

Salazar looked up and smiled pleasantly when he saw Harry walking down the corridor toward the portrait. Harry's hair was tousled and messy (even more so than usual) as though he'd just gotten back from flying, which was quite possible and his green eyes were sparkling.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Potter," Salazar smiled warmly at the Gryffindor.

"Afternoon," Harry smiled politely.

"I never got to ask you or Draco how tutoring went on Tuesday," Salazar said, and quickly added when the Gryffindor blushed hotly, "If you don't mind me asking."

"No, it's fine," Harry grinned despite his obvious embarrassment. Embarrassment over what, though Salazar had no idea of. "It went really well, considering how Draco and I both thought it would go."

"It's my understanding, Harry-may I call you Harry?- that you and Draco haven't been very... fond of each other since you began here at Hogwarts."

Harry had to smile at the sheer understatement of what Salazar had just said.

"We didn't like each other very well, no," Harry agreed quietly. "But... something changed since this year started. We haven't said one spiteful thing to each other. We actually got along the other night. I think we're kinda-sorta... friends."

Salazar smiled, "That's good to hear, harry. You and draco both will need all your friends during this war. Heaven knows you'll both need the support."

Harry nodded.

"I suppose you're here to see Draco?"

Harry nodded again, "Yes, sir."

"Well?" Salazar smiled. "What's the password?"

"Oh!" Harry gave a small embarrassed smiled. "Boomslang."

Salazar nodded and the portrait swung open to reveal the winding staircase that led to Draco's rooms. Harry smiled. "Thank you!" he called as he stepped through.

_**HPDMHPDMHPDM**_

Draco felt a small thrill run through him when he heard the knock on his door. He had been pacing anxiously since he'd gotten back from dinner. Harry hadn't been at dinner and Draco couldn't have missed him because he'd basically watched the Gryffindor table the whole time.

No, he wasn't a stalker.

Draco almost sprinted over to the door, but remembered to stop and compose himself. When he was sure he looked presentable and not like a crazed baboon, he took a deep breath and opened the door. His breath caught at the sight that greeted him. Harry's hair was messy and windblown and it fell haphazardly around his large, sparkling green eyes beautifully. He was sporting a large grin that showed his sparkling white teeth and the small dimple on his right cheek that Draco had never noticed before.

"Hi, Harry," he smiled.

"Hi, Draco!" Harry chirped cheerily, and then he seemed to realize how he'd just sounded, and blushed, lowering his head to hide his eyes behind hi bangs. It was so adorable that Draco had to laugh.

"Come in," he chuckled and a still very embarrassed Harry scurried inside.

"You weren't at dinner," Draco said casually as Harry began to pull his books out of his bag and settled them on the table.

Harry seemed to blush even more. "Yeah," he smiled. "I was out at the Quidditch Pitch flying. Helps me clear my head."

"Got a lot on your mind?" Draco asked as he casually sat down on the couch beside Harry.

"You could say that," Harry murmured, suddenly seeming lost in thought, and Draco was about to ask, but Harry beat him to it. "What with school and all."

Draco got the distinct impression that that wasn't all, but decided not to press, which Harry seemed grateful for.

"So you haven't eaten," he said instead.

Harry shook his head, "No, but I'm not hungry." His stomach rumbled suddenly and he blushed hotly.

Draco chuckled, "I'll call a house elf."

"You don't have to!" Harry said, shaking his head. "I can wait until after."

Draco rolled his eyes, "You're going to eat. Dobby!"

Immediately, the elf that Harry had grown quite fond of popped into the room. "Yes, Mister Malfoy?" He then noticed Harry and his tennis ball eyes lit up with excitement. "Mister Potter!"

Harry smiled at the elf, "Hello, Dobby."

Draco looked back and forth between the two, "You two know each other?"

"Um," Harry blushed, but Dobby started talking before Harry could.

"Harry Potter freed Dobby from Mister Draco's father!"

Harry sighed and looked at Draco apologetically, but Draco smiled at him. "I'm glad, Dobby," he said, still looking at Harry. "My father treated you horribly."

Dobby beamed, "You called Dobby for something, sir?"

"Ah, yes," Draco tore his gaze away from Harry's to look at the elf. "Will you please bring Harry a sandwich or two? I'm afraid he skipped dinner."

Dobby nodded enthusiastically, "Yes! Dobby knows Harry Potter's favorite!" And he disappeared with a pop.

Dobby looked at Harry questioningly.

Harry blushed, "I would often go to the kitchens to eat to avoid people especially fourth year and last year."

"Ah."

Dobby popped back in and handed Harry a plate of five ham and cheese sandwiches.

Harry smiled and took the plate, "Thank you, Dobby."

Dobby smiled happily, "Will Mister Draco and Harry Potter be needing anything else?"

"No thank you, Dobby," Draco said.

Dobby nodded and disappeared again.

"So," Draco said as he settled back into the couch. "You freed Dobby from my father."

Harry blushed and nodded.

"How'd you get my father to give him clothes?"

"Tricked him."

Draco laughed, "He raged about it all summer. I just assumed he'd accidently given him laundry to do. He'd done it with house elves before."

Harry smiled, "Dobby thinks he owes me or something. He keeps trying to fatten me up." He gestured to the five sandwiches that he had yet to touch.

"Eat," Draco ordered.

"Wanna share?"

"Nope," Draco shook his head. "You're going to eat all of it."

"I'll never be able to eat all of this."

"Maybe, but you need it. You're far too thin. _Eat_, Harry," Draco raised a demanding eyebrow at him.

Harry rolled his eyes and picked up a sandwich. "Bloody mother hen," he grumbled. "Worse than Mrs. Weasley."

Draco grinned, "So where did we leave off on Tuesday?"

_**HPDMHPDMHPDM**_

Harry knew Draco was staring at him, could feel the fire of his silver gaze burning into the side of his scull as he worked on the simple potion Draco was making him make. It unnerved him a bit; he was used to Draco staring at him with contempt—hatred, even, but never… whatever the emotion was that he was staring at him with. It also filled him with warmth and this weird tingling sensation that left his hands shaking a bit as he stirred the potion. He contemplated asking Draco just what was so interesting about the side of Harry's face, but decided against it.

"If I'm doing it wrong, you can just tell me," he said instead.

He could see Draco visibly jump, as if startled out of his thoughts by Harry's voice. Harry refrained from looking at him, but he thought he could see Draco's cheeks become just the lightest shade of pink.

"Sorry," Draco mumbled, fixing his gaze instead on Harry's half eaten plate of sandwiches. "I was thinking."

"I could tell," Harry gave Draco a brief, amused smiled that made Draco's heart stutter before he turned back to the potion and resumed stirring.

Draco decided he liked the way Harry looked bent over a cauldron, his forehead slick with sweat, green eyes narrowed, tongue poking out slight between red lips in concentration as he worked to make the potion perfect. Draco could stare at him all day.

"You're doing it again."

Damn.

Draco felt himself blush and again and cursed himself for doing so. "I'm sorry," he said, giving Harry a small, bashful smile, but offered no explanation.

Harry smiled at him, "It's okay. I find myself doing the same thing quite a bit." He wiped his hands on the towel Draco had set out at the beginning for them. "How is it?"

Draco peered into the potion that Harry had created and smiled. It was almost the exact same shade of violet it was supposed to look, maybe a little lighter. "Great," he smiled, "although I may suggest stirring just a little bit slower to get the shade of violet the book describes."

Harry smiled and nodded, then looked at the muggle watch on his wrist and cursed, "It's past curfew."

Draco frowned unhappily. That had gone by _really_ fast. He thought he'd have a _little_ time to just_ talk_ with Harry before he had to leave.

"I could walk you back," he suggested. "I _am _a prefect, after all. You won't get in trouble if you're with me."

"Would you?" Harry asked, his eyes shining with hope and gratitude. Draco's heart fluttered I his chest.

"Of course," he smiled.

Harry smiled at him gratefully and began to pack up his things. Naturally, however, he somehow ended up knocking almost all of his books to the floor. "Crap," he said at the same time as Draco said, "Let me help."

Then, as if in one of those cliché muggle movies, their hands connected as they reached for the last book and a jolt of electricity shot through their bodies, startling both of them. They both simultaneously looked up, right into each other's eyes, shining emerald meeting striking silver. Neither could look away.

Almost as if in a trance, Draco took Harry's hand in his own and twined their fingers together. Harry blushed hotly, but didn't fight Draco or break the contact between their hands.

They sat there for what seemed like hours, but was only minutes, simply staring into each other's eyes and holding hands.

And then, suddenly, as if realizing what he was doing, Draco blushed a faint pink color—he'd never blushed any darker than pink, Harry noted absently—and gently dropped Harry's hand. Harry let it flutter onto his lap slowly, uselessly.

Draco cleared his throat in embarrassment and picked up Harry's book. "Um… here," he said stupidly, handing the book to Harry who took it with a smile.

"Thanks."

Draco stood and hesitantly held out his hand to help Harry up. Harry took it with a grateful smile. As soon as Harry was on his feet, however, Draco dropped his hand quickly. Harry's eyes flashed with hurt for a second, but it was gone so quickly that Draco was sure he imagined it.

"C'mon," he smiled, motioning with his head toward the door. Harry smiled and followed Draco down the staircase and out the portrait hole. A sleepy-looking Salazar winked at Harry and Draco as if he knew what all had gone on upstairs. Harry smiled at him as Draco led him down the corridor and in the direction of the Gryffindor Tower.

They walked in companionable silence, just enjoying each other's company. It was nice, they both decided. The comfortable silence left them both at ease.

They both felt a bit disappointed when they did reach the portrait of the Fat Lady. Neither one wanted it to end.

"Well," Draco said softly, turning toward Harry. "We're here." He mentally kicked himself for stating the obvious.

Harry smiled, "Yeah." He bit his lip. "So, next tutoring thing on Tuesday?"

He really didn't want to have to wait that long to be able to talk to Draco again.

"Oh!" Draco said. "I forgot to tell you. Professor Slughorn wants us to start having sessions on Sundays at the same time. He said it wouldn't hurt to have the extra practice."

Harry smiled, suddenly feeling very relieved for some reason. "Okay," he agreed. "Yeah, that will work."

Draco grinned at him.

Without even realizing it, they became lost in each other's eyes yet again.

"Well?" said a very sleepy, very _grumpy_ Fat lady. "Are you going to tell me the password? If not, leave or quit your jibber-jabber."

Draco and Harry both had to stifle laughs at this.

"I'm sorry, madam," Harry said politely. "Let me just tell my friend goodbye and then we'll both be on our way."

The portrait grumbled under her breath.

Harry chuckled and turned back to Draco. "I guess that's our cue to wrap up," he murmured, keeping his voice low so as to not irritate the Fat Lady any more.

"Yes," Draco agreed, laughing quietly. "And Mister Potter, it seems our time here has been cut short. So, I bid you goodnight." He bowed formally.

Harry bowed formally as well. "Thank you for so graciously escorting me back to Gryffindor Tower, Mister Malfoy. Goodnight, Mister Malfoy."

Draco laughed quietly and stood up straighter. "Goodnight, Harry," he said quietly. "I'll see you on Sunday, same time, yeah?"

Harry smiled and blushed a bit. "Yeah," he said, just as quietly. "Yeah, that'd be great. Goodnight, Draco."

Draco grinned happily as he watched Harry quickly speak the password to the Fat Lady, who grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, "About time" and swung open. Harry flashed Draco a warm smile before stepping through and disappearing from view.

Draco smiled and leaned against the wall, just thinking. _How is it that he manages to make me feel this way? _he thought, resting his head against the wall and closing his eyes. Harry affected Draco in ways that seemed almost unnatural to him. It wasn't normal to go into a complete daze whenever you looked into someone's eyes, was it?

Draco smiled. He didn't really care if it was normal or not. Harry made him feel happier than he'd felt in a long time. And Draco would hold onto it as long as he could.

**So this chapter is only Draco and Harry (which I'm pretty sure no one will complain about XD). I hope you all liked!**

**What to expect next chapter: Neville's "mystery boyfriend" and a surprise guest!**

**Follow me on twitter! drarry_shipper**

**Review!**


	8. Chapter 8

"And _where_ have you been?" Ron asked snarkily as soon as Harry stepped into the dorm room.

"Nowhere, _mum_," Harry rolled his eyes and took off his shirt. "I was only off having sex with all the Slytherin boys."

"I'm serious, Harry."

"So am I."

Ron rolled his eyes, but his face softened, "I'm just worried, Harry. Malfoy has never been nice to us—_you_, more specifically. And now he's being nice to you all the sudden? It doesn't make sense. I think he's planning something. I don't know what, but since when has he wanted to be your friend? I'm just worried about you, Harry. I don't want you to get hurt again."

Harry sighed and his face softened as well. "I know, Ron," he said softly. "And I appreciate it, but you gotta trust me to make the right decision when it comes to Draco. He's done nothing to make me believe that I can't trust him. I mean, you should have seen his face when he asked me to be his friend. He seemed genuinely nervous and like he genuinely wanted to be my friend. I'm giving him a chance and you need to trust me to take care of myself."

Ron sighed, "I trust you, Harry. I just don't trust him."

"I know; you don't need to. You just need to trust that I'm capable of taking care of myself and that I will come to you and Hermione if something happens," Harry smiled softly. "Can you do that?"

Ron exhaled and sank back in bed. "Yeah," he said slowly. "Yeah."

Harry grinned at him, "Thank you."

"Yeah," Ron answered, looking at Harry imploringly. "Just promise me you'll be careful around him, Harry."

Harry smiled, "I promise."

HPDMHPDMHPDM

Neville sighed in relief as the portrait of the Fat Lady swung closed behind him. He had waited for _forever_ for Harry and Ron to finally go to bed and now he was going to be late.

He quickly and quietly walked down the many corridors of Hogwarts toward the dungeons where he was supposed to meet Blaise, not tripping at all for once.

"Hey," he gasped breathlessly as he finally entered _their_ room.

Blaise was sitting on the couch that they had transfigured from the old table that had been sitting in there uselessly.

"I'm sorry I'm late," he said as he sat down next to Blaise. "I didn't think my dorm mates would stay up as long as they did."

Blaise smiled and pulled Neville against his chest. "It's fine," he murmured against Neville's ear. "I understand."

Neville smiled and snuggled down into Blaise's warmth. "Harry, Ron, and the others keep asking me who my 'mystery boyfriend' is," he mumbled. "They know that there's _someone_."

"Well, you are kind of obvious. You get this big smile on your face and your eyes light up," Blaise chuckled and kissed Neville's blushing cheek. "I like that I can do that to you. Makes me feel needed."

Neville turned his face into Blaise's chest, wrapped his arms around Blaise's waist, and mumbled, "You _are_ needed."

Blaise's heart fluttered and he tightened his arms around the smaller boy.

It was quiet for a little while, neither saying anything, just soaking up the comfort that the warmth of each other's bodies provided. Neville was almost asleep when Blaise spoke.

"It won't be long now."

"What?" Neville asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes and looking up at Blaise. "What won't be long now?"

"Draco and Harry," Blaise said simply. "The sexual tension is just too thick. One of them will have to break soon. It'll probably be Draco. He's been pining over the Gryffindor Golden Boy since fourth year."

"Don't call him that," Neville scowled at his boyfriend. "But I agree with you. They're growing closer. And Harry's been smiling a lot more lately."

Blaise grinned, "I hope I'm there."

Neville snorted, "I doubt you'll be near them. They'll probably break during one of those 'tutoring sessions' they have. We'll never see it happen."

Blaise pouted, "It would have been entertaining."

"It would have," Neville agreed quietly, snuggling back down into Blaise's chest. "Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Of course," Blaise smiled, tenderly kissing the top of Neville's head. "Love you…"

Neville smiled and his whole being warmed. "I love you, too," he mumbled closing his eyes. "Now sleep."

It was quiet for a little while.

"Hey," Blaise said suddenly, and Neville didn't bother to try and hide his groan of protest. "Aren't you going to see your parents on Saturday?"

Neville looked down and cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Yeah," he mumbled.

Blaise instantly regretted asking, but he needed to know something. "Do you want me to go with you?" he asked. "You said your gran couldn't come because she was sick."

Neville shook his head, "No, but thank you. It'll raise too many questions. I'll just go on my own."

Blaise frowned unhappily, "I don't want you going on your own."

Neville sighed softly and rested his cheek back against Blaise's chest. "Okay," he said slowly. "I'll ask Harry to come with me. He's the only one that knows about my parents besides you and I think he's going to see his g—" he caught himself quickly and glanced up at Blaise, "—friend on Saturday anyway."

Blaise nodded in satisfaction and cuddled Neville closer. "Okay," he agreed. "I'm done now."

"Promise? I can sleep now?" Neville grinned teasingly up at his boyfriend.

Blaise laughed and ran his hands through Neville's hair. "I promise," he pressed a quick kiss to Neville's temple. "Go to sleep."

Neville gratefully buried his face into Blaise's chest and closed his eyes.

"Hey, Neville?"

"Will you be quiet?"

HPDMHPDMHPDM

Harry looked up from his breakfast and grinned as Neville stumbled into the Great Hall that morning, looking disoriented and half asleep. He slumped onto the bench beside Harry and sleepily reached for some toast.

"Where did you sneak off to last night?" Harry grinned at Neville's flabbergasted look. "Never assume that Ron and I are asleep as soon as we close our curtains. Or…" he paused to contemplate for a minute. "Never assume that _I'm_ asleep as soon as I close _my_ curtains."

Neville blushed hotly.

Harry chuckled, "Don't worry, mate. I won't tell anyone."

Neville blushed even more.

Harry laughed quietly, but his attention was quickly diverted as Draco walked into the Hall. Draco's eyes immediately sought out Harry's, and they simultaneously gave each other small smiles.

Harry turned his gaze back to Neville, who was grinning at him knowingly. Harry rolled his eyes, "It's not like you can say anything. I see the way you look at Blaise Zabini."

Neville blushed hotly and stammered, "What—!"

Harry grinned and clapped Neville on the back, "Don't worry about it, mate. I won't tell anybody."

Neville seemed to blush even hotter and ducked his head. Harry laughed quietly and continued eating his breakfast.

They sat there in comfortable silence for a little while before Neville softly spoke up, "Harry?"

"Hmm?" Harry acknowledged, not looking up.

"Um," Harry looked up at the unsure tone of Neville's voice. Neville blushed and looked away. "Well," he said slowly. "You're the only one besides Blaise who knows about my parents, and Gran can't come, and obviously Blaise can't come, and I don't want to go by myself, and—"

"Neville, you're rambling," Harry cut in, chuckling softly when Neville immediately clamped his mouth shut. "Are you asking me to come with you to visit your parents?"

Neville ducked his head and nodded. "Yeah, tomorrow," he mumbled.

Harry smiled and placed a hand on Neville's shoulder, "Of course I will. I was going to go see Sirius tomorrow, anyway."

Neville smiled at Harry gratefully, "Thanks."

Harry clapped Neville on the back and went back to eating his breakfast just as Ron and Hermione walked in.

"Morning, Harry, Neville," Hermione greeted, smiling at the other two.

"G'morning, mate!" Ron said happily, taking a seat next to Hermione across from Harry and Neville.

"Hello, Ron, 'Mione," Harry smiled warmly at his two friends.

"Hi," Neville said simply.

"Harry?"

All four friends looked up at the sound of the new voice. Steven Hawk, a Ravenclaw with curly, shoulder length brown hair and warm brown eyes. He shuffled his feet shyly and smiled at Harry sheepishly.

Harry straightened up and smiled at the boy, "Hi, Steven."

Steven grinned at him and cast nervous eyes at Ron, who was glaring at him.

Harry rolled his eyes and him and looked back at Steven. "Don't mind him. He's a prat," he smiled kindly. "Was there something you needed?"

Steven seemed to blush a bit, but it was barely noticeable. "Um," he mumbled. "I know this is sudden and that we've never really talked to each other before, but I was wondering if… um—Merlin, this is so awkward—would you like to go with me to Hogsmeade next weekend?"

Harry was taken aback for a moment, before he blushed. Steven, Ron, Neville, and Hermione were all staring at him expectantly. Harry unconsciously shot a glance toward the Slytherin table.

HPDMHPDMHPDM

"What are _you_ so happy about?" Draco asked in amusement when Blaise bounced into the Great Hall and flopped into the seat beside Draco.

Blaise grinned at him, "Spent the night with Neville."

"As per usual," Draco smiled cheekily.

Blaise shrugged, "He's adorable and sweet and an _amazing_ cuddler."

Draco pretended to gag.

Blaise grinned at him, "I've listened to you pine over Harry since fourth year. I think I'm allowed to talk about my boyfriend once in a while."

"Bleh," Draco grinned.

"You're just jealous because I actually had the guts to _go after_ Neville. You don't have the guts to ask Harry on a date," Blaise said cheekily.

Draco's grin immediately fell off his face and he glared at Blaise. "Harry and I haven't even been friends a week. I'm not going to ask him out until he's more comfortable with me."

Blaise had a strange twinkle in his eyes, "You might want to hurry up and ask him, Draco. Looks like little Ravenclaw Steven Hawk has his mind set on Harry as well."

Draco's eyes immediately hardened and he turned his haze to the Gryffindor table. His glare turned venomous when he saw the Ravenclaw practically leaning over Gryffindor table in an effort to look into Harry's eyes. He had a gleeful look on his face and he was grinning from ear to ear. Harry was smiling back at him and his green eyes were sparkling. That only served to fuel Draco's anger.

Blaise clapped him on the back and his eyes were actually sympathetic. "I'd hurry up and make my move, mate," he said. "The clock's ticking."

HPDMHPDMHPDM

Harry looked up from his Charms homework curiously as he heard a slight tapping on the boys' dormitory window. The grey barn owl waiting expectantly on the window seal as Harry stood and walked over. As soon as he opened the window, the owl flew in and perched itself on Harry's shoulder, holding out his leg—which had a rumpled piece of parchment tied to it—expectantly.

Harry took the parchment and the owl immediately flew back out the window. Harry huffed and opened the letter.

_Harry,_

_ Please meet me in my office as soon as you get this letter. There is someone here who wants to speak with you._

_ Professor Dumbledore_

_P.S. – I really like chocolate frogs._

Harry frowned in confusion. Who would be here to speak to him?

Still frowning, he put down the letter and shrugged on his robes. When he walked down the stairs, Ron and Hermione looked up at him curiously from their places in the armchairs by the fireplace.

"Where are _you_ going?" Ron asked him suspiciously.

Harry rolled his eyes, "Professor Dumbledore just sent me a letter, asking me to meet him in his office."

Ron relaxed and Hermione asked, "Want us to come with you?"

Harry shook his head, "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm sure it's nothing. Be back in a bit."

When Harry made it to the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office, he quickly spoke the password and raced up the staircase leading to Dumbledore's office. "Come in," Dumbledore called as soon as Harry knocked on the door.

Harry cautiously opened the door and stepped inside. He gasped when he saw who was standing in front of Dumbledore's desk. He immediately flew into the man's arms and hugged him tight.

Remus looked tired and worn, but his hug was fierce and warm.

Merlin, Harry had missed him. And no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop the tears that came to his eyes.

"Hello, cub," Remus whispered, burying his face in Harry's wild mop of hair.

"_Moony,"_ Harry whimpered in response. He hadn't expected Moony's return to affect him as it did, but it had been two months. _Two months_ of not hearing a _word_ from his uncle. Two months of having to go visit Sirius_ alone_.

"How are you?" Remus murmured, running a soothing hand up and down Harry's spine.

"I'm fine," Harry sniffed, tightening his arms around Remus and burying his face in the werewolf's chest. "Missed you."

"I missed you too, little one," Remus shuffled both himself and Harry to the couch that Dumbledore had transfigured out of an armchair. As soon as they sat down, Harry immediately burrowed himself into Remus' side.

"Where've you _been_?" Harry mumbled, his voice muffled by the cloth of Remus' tattered shirt.

Remus closed his eyes and tightened his arms around his cub. "I'm sorry, Harry," he whispered. "I wanted to be here, I really did, but I—"

"He was on a mission for the Order, Harry," Dumbledore interjected and Harry realized for the first time that the old wizard was sitting behind his desk, blue eyes twinkling. "Nothing dangerous. And everyone else was busy, or I would have sent someone else and let Remus be with you."

Harry nodded and turned his face back into Remus' chest.

Dumbledore smiled tenderly and stood, "I believe I'll leave you two to catch up. Feel free to use my office as long as you like."

Remus smiled gratefully at the headmaster as they old wizard walked out the door. As soon as he was gone, Harry looked up at his honorary uncle. Remus gave him a gently smile and thumbed away the tears that glistened on his cub's cheek. "Enough crying, now, Harry," he murmured. "You and I have a lot to catch up on."

For the next hour and a half, Harry and Remus simply sat there and talked about everything that had happened since they'd seen each other last. Remus hadn't been happy when he heard about Draco being Harry's potions tutor, but he had been pleased with Harry's report about how he had seemed to come out of his depression. They were now sitting in a comfortable silence, both staring into the crackling fire—both lost in their own thoughts.

"Did you know Frank and Alice Longbottom?" Harry asked suddenly.

Remus gaze turned sad as he thought about the two poor souls. "They were some of my closest friends in the Order," he agreed quietly. "Their son was Neville, correct? You know him?"

"Yes," Harry straightened as if proud to say he knew the Longbottoms' son. "He's one of my best friends." He lowered his eyes suddenly. "He told me last year about what happened to his parents."

Remus winced and returned his gaze to the fire. "Yes," he said softly, sadly. "It was… tragic."

Harry nodded sadly, "I hate her."

Before Remus could process who Harry was talking about—although it should've been obvious when he thought about it—Harry was shaking his head and speaking again.

"I was gonna ask," he glanced up at Remus nervously. "I promised Neville I would go with him to visit his parents tomorrow in St. Mungos because his Gran can't go and his boyfriend can't either. I just think it would be good if he had an actual _friend_ of his parents there too, you know? Maybe you could go with us to lunch and then we can go see his parents, and then…" Harry peeked up at Remus shyly. "… then we can go see Sirius."

Remus closed his eyes at the mention of his best friend. He was sorely tempted to tell Harry _no_—he couldn't _handle_ it. But he needed to face the reality of what had happened to Sirius, and he supposed he owed Harry for disappearing for two months without a word.

"Okay," he exhaled reluctantly. "Yeah. It'll go."

Harry's smile was as bright as the sun as he threw his arms around Remus and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Moony!"

Remus smiled and wrapped his arms around Harry in return. Maybe, he decided, Harry's reaction made it worth it.

* * *

**So how did you like the Neville/Blaise thing I did? XD And then Remus! Yay!**

**I hope you all like it! Review! Please?**

**What to expect next chapter: Remus, Harry, and Neville's trip to St. Mungos and lots of fluff between Harry and Neville and Harry and Remus!**

**Follow me on Twitter! drarry_shipper**


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey, Neville?" Harry asked as he and Neville walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning.

"Yeah, Harry?"

Harry swallowed. He hadn't yet told Neville about Remus going with them and he wasn't sure how the boy would react. "I, um," he offered Neville a nervous smile. "I—"

"You're not backing out, are you?" Neville stopped, looking a bit panicked, and Harry was quick to assure him.

"No, no," he smiled reassuringly and Neville visibly relaxed. "Nothing like that. It's just… Remus came to see me yesterday and I asked him if he wanted to come because he was good friends with your parents, and I wanted him to come see Sirius with me anyway, so—"

"Harry," Neville had the audacity to laugh. "Now _you're_ the on rambling. I don't mind."

Harry smiled at him gratefully. "He's going to take us to dinner too before we come back here."

Neville nodded, "I can live with that."

Harry seemed immensely relieved to hear this. "Good," he grinned.

"Is he going to take us there?"

Harry shook his head negatively, "No. We're going to floo to a little coffee shop where Remus'll be waiting for us. We'll go see your parents and Sirius and then we'll go eat lunch and come back here."

Neville nodded and they continued walking. They were about to enter the Great Hall when a very familiar voice hissed from somewhere to the right:

"Harry!"

Both Harry and Neville whipped around to see Draco standing in the shadows about ten feet away from them. He was motioning almost frantically for Harry to come over to him. Neville looked at Harry questioningly and Harry chuckled to himself. "Go on, Neville," he said, smiling. "I'll be in, in a minute."

Neville grinned at Harry knowingly and slipped into the Great Hall.

Harry began walking toward Draco. Draco motioned to Harry to follow him then slipped around a corner. Chuckling quietly, Harry followed, smiling to himself. Draco was waiting patiently by a statue of armor at the end of the corridor.

"Harry," he smiled as soon as Harry neared him.

"Hi, Draco," Harry grinned, stepping up in front of the Slytherin. "Was there something you needed?"

Draco pretended to be offended, "What makes you think I want something? Is it wrong to want to talk to my friend? Fine! See if I talk to you again!"

"N-no!" Harry stammered frantically. "That's not what I meant at all! I—"

"Harry," Draco laughed, reaching out and placing a hand on the Gryffindor's shoulder. "I was joking. I know you didn't mean it like that."

Harry relaxed visibly, then frowned and smacked Draco's hand away, "That's wasn't nice. I seriously thought I'd offended you. What _do_ you want, then?"

Draco fought off the amused smirk that threatened to show itself and said, "Just to talk to you. I heard you were going to be gone all day with Longbottom."

Harry nodded, "We're going to see some of his family with Remus and then we're going to lunch."

Draco raised an eyebrow, "Remus? As in Professor Lupin?"

Harry nodded, "He was my dad's best friend and if he was a—you know—a werewolf, he'd be my guardian."

Draco hummed thoughtfully. "I never knew that."

"It's not common knowledge."

Draco stood in a contemplative silence for a few moments before his brow furrowed. "Harry," he said slowly. "What did that Ravenclaw Steven Hawk want yesterday?"

Harry blushed and ducked his head, "Oh… you saw that? He asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him next weekend."

Draco's eyes narrowed to slits. "He did, did he?" he murmured, his eyes glinting dangerously. "Well, don't worry about him, Harry. He's slept around with everyone—boys and girls alike—in Ravenclaw and even with some Slytherins. I don't blame you for telling him n—"

"I said yes."

Draco physically staggered; he had to grab onto the statue to keep his balance.

"Draco! Are you okay?" Harry made to rush toward him, but Draco held up a hand, seeming to root Harry to the spot.

"You said _yes_?" he wheezed. His vision swam in front of his face and he wondered if he was spinning in circles, but Harry's figure stayed right in front of him. Harry was going on a _date_, with someone who _wasn't Draco_. "Harry, you can't! He's nothing but trouble. He'll hurt you!"

Harry looked confused, "What? Why are you so concerned about his?"

_I love you._

The words threatened to spill out of Draco's mouth, but he swallowed them back.

"Because you can do _so much better_ than him, Harry," he said instead.

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose, "And _who_ do you suppose is better for me, then?"

_Me._

"Anyone but him," he said instead.

Harry sighed and shook his head, making his untamed bangs fall into his face and over his green eyes. "Look, Draco," he said softly. "I don't have time to argue over whether Steven's good enough for me right now. Neville and I are leaving in like fifteen minutes and I still haven't eaten breakfast. I'll talk to you tomorrow, yeah?"

And he was gone.

"Draco?" Blaise asked tentatively, stepping up behind Draco. Draco had forgotten that Blaise had been hiding behind the statue.

Draco shook his head and turned to his friend. "We can't let Steven take him away from me, Blaise," he murmured, his silver eyes hard and determined. "I won't let him."

HPDMHPDMHPDM

Harry was the first one to step out of the floo and he looked around the small coffee shop in search of Moony. He spotted him sitting by himself in a corner of the shop, sipping at some tea. When he noticed Harry, he smiled and motioned him over. Harry ginned and walked over. As soon as he reached the table, he leaned down to give his honorary godfather a hug. "Hey, Moony," he murmured, squeezing the man.

"Hello, cub," Remus returned, squeezing Harry just as tightly.

When Harry straightened up, Neville had joined them and was smiling at the two. "Hello, Professor Lupin," he greeted the werewolf.

"Now Neville," Remus admonished gently, smiling warmly at the boy. "I'm no longer your professor, am I? Please, call me Remus."

"Or Moony," Harry chirped, halfway giggling at the look he received from Remus.

"Moony?" Neville asked, a confused from coming onto his face, making Harry giggle harder.

"Ignore him," Remus told Neville, making the boy smile.

"I'm simply stating that Moony is also Remus' name and that you can also call him that if you wish to."

Neville and Remus both shook their heads in amusement and Remus stood. "I suppose we should get going, yes?" he addressed the two boys.

HPDMHPDMHPDM

Harry saw Neville swallow as soon as they stepped into his parents' room at St. Mungos and reached out to place a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder. Neville flashed him a grateful smile.

Alice and Frank both looked up curiously when they heard the trio come through the door. Harry caught his breath. So these were Neville's parents. He supposed he shouldn't have expected anything different, but still…

"Hi, mum. Hi, dad," Neville said, smiling slightly at his parents as he stepped forward. The Longbottoms studied their son curiously and Harry's heart clenched. There was absolutely _no_ recognition in their eyes. They had _no idea_ who the boy standing before them was.

Neville seemed to realize this as well because he swallowed thickly and lowered his head. "I-I just came to check on you again," he mumbled, and Harry realized that his voice was shaking.

Harry quickly stepped up beside his friend and placed a gently hand on his shoulder and Neville shifted a bit closer. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom," Harry smiled and Alice and Frank turned their gazes to him. "I'm Harry," he continued. "Harry Potter."

Alice frowned suddenly and sat up a bit more in her bed, making a vague motion with her hand toward him. Harry hesitated, unsure of what to do.

"She wants you to go to her," Neville whispered in awe.

Harry cast him a nervous glance before cautiously stepping up to Alice. The woman hesitantly reached up and lightly traced the lightening bolt scar with shaking fingertips. She seemed to be studying the scar intently and Harry waited in baited breath for her to finish her scrutiny. She finally seemed satisfied and leaned back, studying Harry appraisingly.

"Amazing," Neville whispered, staring at his mother in awe. "She's done that to me before. Like she _recognizes_ me. But how can she recognize you? She hasn't seen you since we were babies."

"It was Harry's scar," Remus said, finally stepping forward from his place in the doorway. "She may not know what it is, but she can sense the Dark Magic that was used to make it."

Harry winced and drew back. Remus laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Hello, Alice, Frank," Remus smiled sadly at the two. Alice and Frank both focused on him. Frank tilted his head and frowned at the werewolf, but gave no indication that he recognized him.

Remus swallowed, his eyes sad, and squeezed Harry's shoulder.

Alice seemed to shrug, whatever it was that had been bothering her forgotten, and reached over to her bedside table to grab a piece of Muggle gum from a bowl. She unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth. She then seemed to study Neville—who had been standing silently beside Harry—and handed the wrapper to him.

Neville shakily took it and, surprising the other four occupants of the room, let out a choked sob. He immediately covered his face with his hands and backed away. "I'm sorry," he choked. "She gives me the wrapped _every time_ I come here and I do this _every time."_

"It's okay, Neville," his heart breaking, Harry reached forward and pulled the distraught boy into his arms. "It's okay. We understand. We understand."

Neville buried his face in Harry's shoulder, his body shaking with his effort to keep in his sobs. Harry rubbed his back comfortingly. "I think it's time to go," Remus murmured, squeezing Harry's shoulder once more before opening the door for him. Neville didn't protest when Harry gently led him out the door.

Harry gently sat Neville into a chair outside the Longbottoms' room and sank into the chair next to him. He vaguely heard Remus shutting the door, but he was too focused on his friend, who was now staring at his lap dejectedly, his eyes pooling with tears that he was trying desperately not to let fall.

"Neville," Harry placed a hand on Neville's shoulder. "It's okay to cry. I'm here and I'm not going to make fun of you. I'm only going to _be here_ for you. It's _okay._"

Neville didn't need any more prompting.

With a strangled sob, Neville launched himself into Harry's arm. Harry wrapped his arms around the boy, pulling his closer. Neville buried his face in Harry's shoulder and _cried_.

They sat like that for over an hour, Harry and Neville sitting in the chairs while Neville cried himself out and Remus standing protectively in front of them, arms crossed, glaring at anyone who stared at the boys for too long.

When Neville's sobs toned down to sniffles, Harry pulled back slightly. Neville sniffed and wiped his nose unceremoniously on his sleeve. Harry saw that Neville had dropped the gum wrapper his mother had given him on the floor and bent down to pick it up. He placed it in Neville's hand and gently closed his fist around it. Neville gave him a shaky, thankful smile.

"Can we…" Neville's voice wobbled and he cast a nervous glance at the door that hid his parents from view. "Can we leave this wing now?"

"Of course," Harry stood them both up and swung an arm around Neville's shoulders. "Let's go."

HPDMHPDMHPDM

"Harry!"

Harry grinned and turned around at the familiar voice. Kayla was at the other end of the corridor they were in, running toward Harry as fast as her legs would carry her. The sight of the bubbly little girl immediately made Harry happier.

"Kayla!" Harry immediately dropped down to one knee to scoop the girl into his arms when she reached him. "How are you doing today?" he hugged her tightly.

She beamed at him, "the doctors said I'm getting better!"

"That's great!" Harry grinned, hugging the girl closer to his chest. He winked at Neville and Remus over the top of Kayla's head. "I'm happy for you."

"Are you here to see your godfather?" Kayla peered curiously up at Harry. She then noticed Remus and Neville and shrunk shyly into Harry's chest.

Harry smiled fondly down at the girl before saying, "Kayla, this—" he pointed at Neville "—is Neville. He's one of my best friends. And this—" he pointed at Remus "—is Remus. He was best friends with my father and godfather. He's like my uncle."

Kayla peered up at them. "Harry's my best friend," she announced.

Harry and the other grinned. "I am," he agreed, standing. "You wanna go see Sirius with us?"

"Yeah!" she agreed enthusiastically, grabbing Harry's hand and leading him down the corridor. Harry cast an amused glance back at the two men behind them and made a motion with his head for them to follow. They did so with amused smiles.

Kayla had let go of Harry's hand impatiently when he refused to go any faster and had run ahead of the trio. When the two students and former professor reached Sirius' room, the little girl was bouncing excitedly in front of the door.

"_C'mon,_ Harry!" she whined.

"Calm down, squirt, I'm coming!" Harry grinned, scooping her up when he reached her.

Harry turned to grin at the other two again, but stopped when he saw Remus. The werewolf was swallowing repeatedly as he stared at the door. The tears in the man's eyes made Harry's heart clench.

"Remus," he said quietly. "Do you wanna go alo—"

"_No,"_ Remus suddenly had a vice like grip on Harry's arm. "No, I _can't_ go in there alone, Harry."

Harry nodded and cast an imploring look back at Neville. The boy thankfully understood and sat down in one of the chairs that were placed in the hallway. "I'll wait out here," he announced quietly.

Harry looked at him gratefully and turned to set Kayla down. "Kayla," she said softly, and the girl looked up at him curiously. "Can you stay out here for a little while, while Remus and I go see Sirius?"

"But…" she frowned, looking up at Harry with big doe eyes. "I wanna go see your godfather with you."

"I know, but see," Harry pointed at Neville. "Neville's going to be out here by himself and he'll get lonely if you don't stay out here with him. You don't want him to be lonely, do you?"

Kayla looked at Neville shyly before slowly nodding, "Okay… I'll stay with him."

Harry smiled at her encouragingly and she walked over to the other boy, climbing up in his lap and announcing that she was going to stay with him. Harry smiled at the scene and turned back to Remus. The werewolf was obviously fighting back tears.

Harry walked over to him and wrapped an arm around him. "C'mon, Moony," he mumbled. "Let's go see him."

Remus swallowed thickly, glancing at Harry, before nodding. Harry gently led him into the room.

Remus whimpered when he saw the state of his friend. Sure, he'd been to see Sirius before, but it always hit him like a train whenever he saw how very fragile and… un-Sirius the man looked. Harry led him over to the small chair that was sat beside the hospital bed and told him to sit. Remus quickly transfigured it into a small couch and pulled Harry down beside him.

For a long while, they simply stared at Sirius' prone form. Finally, Remus reached forward and grabbed Sirius' hand, lacing his fingers through Sirius', and placing a soft kiss to the back of his hand.

"Hey, Padfoot," he greeted softly, his voice wavering. "I'm sorry I haven't been to see you, but Dumbledore had me doing some things for him. And I hear Harry's been keeping you company, so I hope you haven't been lonely. I—"

Remus cut himself off and took a shaky breath, "How do you do this by yourself, Harry? I'm barely doing it, and I've got you here with me."

Harry shrugged and tightened his arm around the werewolf. "I do the same thing you're doing. I talk to him, hold his hand. I tell him what all has happened since I was last here."

They were quiet for a while, just looking at Sirius and holding onto the silent comfort that they were giving each other. After a while, Remus finally spoke:

"We were engaged, you know."

Harry blinked and looked up at the older man. He'd known that Remus and his godfather had been in a relationship, but he hadn't known _that_. "I didn't know that," he said quietly.

Remus nodded and pulled a black box out of his pocket. He opened it to reveal a simple, relatively small diamond ring with a gold band. "He proposed to me the night before this happened to him," Remus said quietly. "We were going to get married this summer. You were going to be his best man and Ron was going to be mine. We were going to have it at the Black summer home in France in the gardens. It was going to beautiful."

Harry's heart suddenly seemed lodged in his throat and he closed his eyes to fight off the sudden onslaught of tears. He bowed his head and croaked, "I'm sorry."

Remus blinked at Harry, a confused frown coming over his face. "What do you—" he cut himself off as he realized what Harry was apologizing for. He gasped and crushed the younger boy to his chest. "_No_, Harry," he whispered fiercely. "_No._ it was _not _your fault what happened to Sirius. I don't know why—"

"I _led_ him there, Remus!" Harry ripped away from Remus—no matter how much he wanted to just sink into the embrace and never come out again—and began pacing angrily in front of the werewolf. "If I hadn't been so _stupid_ to believe that Sirius was actually in trouble and gone to the Ministry, Sirius wouldn't have gone there, he wouldn't have gotten hurt, he wouldn't be in a _coma_, and you two would be _married_. Remus, how can you _look_ at me when I'm the one who—"

"Did everything he could to save him," Remus cut in, standing and wrapping his arms around the boy. "You're the one who went in head first because he thought his godfather was being tortured. How would you have known that it was Voldemort messing with your head? You couldn't have, no matter what anyone told you or what Snape failed to teach you. _It was not your fault._ Your friends don't blame you. _I_ don't blame you. And _Sirius_ most certainly doesn't blame you. The only person that blames you is _you._"

"How do you know, Moony?" Harry's voice wobbled dangerously and was muffled slightly because his face was buried in Remus' shoulder. Remus distinctly felt a wetness seeping through his shirt from the tears that Harry was trying and failing to suppress. "H-how do you know that he doesn't blame me? That he doesn't _hate_ me?"

"Because you're his godson. He would have done the same thing if he'd had a vision about you," Remus cupped the back of Harry's head and ran a soothing hand up and down his back. "Sirius is physically incapable of blaming you or hating you for _anything._ You could have broken his motorcycle—_on purpose_—and he wouldn't have been able to get mad at you."

That drew a short, shaky laugh from the teen and the younger boy pulled back a bit. "I'm sorry," he whispered shakily, staring at Remus' shoulder. "I ruined you shirt."

"Don't worry about it," Remus cupped Harry's cheeks, stroking away the still falling tears with his thumbs and making Harry look at him. "Harry, Sirius loves you. You're like the son he never had. _You're his little boy_—as corny as that sounds. He could never hate you and he would certainly never blame you for this. It's time you stopped blaming yourself, yeah?"

Harry stared in Remus' eyes, searching for any untruth. When he found none, he swallowed thickly. And then, slowly, _finally,_ he nodded.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I just now noticed that I have not put ANY disclaimers in any of the chapters so I'm going to do it now: I DO NOT own Harry Potter or any of the characters in this story, sadly, nor do I make any money off this. Just to put that out there.**

**A/N: Happy early birthday to me! I'm turning fifteen on Wednesday, but I thought I'd post this today because I'm going to be really busy tomorrow and Wednesday. Reviews are my birthday presents! **

**I've decided to dedicate this chapter to Revengeful Desire because she my bestest friend in the whole wide world! Check out some of her stories! She's amazing!**

**I've also decided to start responding to reviews, so here they are:**

_**Niji Akahana: **_You know, when I read the first few words of your review I thought you were about to flame so I almost didn't read the rest of it, but then I did and I was just like, "Awwwww, I made someone cry." XD I'm glad you enjoyed! Keep reviewing like that and you'll be my favorite reader. :)

_**Tenshi Yami- Angel of Darkness: **_He might, I don't know. You'll just have to wait and see. ;)

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_**Larissa676: **_:)

_**Totoro Winter: **_Here's your update!

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_**Daddys little crazy bitch: **_:)

_**Revengeful Desire: **_There's no need to be jelly! You're way better than I am! Love ya, girl! :)

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**Enjoy!**

* * *

"D'you think my parents would have minded that I'm gay?"

It was the Friday before the Hogsmeade weekend and Harry's date with Steven. The rest of the week had gone by relatively uneventfully. Harry had gone to Draco's for tutoring on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday and the only time Steven had been mentioned at all was when Draco would make the occasional offhand comment about how he still thought that it was a bad idea which Harry ignored.

Harry looked over at Neville in surprise. They had been sitting peacefully under an oak tree by the lake, working on Transfiguration homework when Neville had broken the silence with the unexpected question. Neville refused to meet Harry's eyes and fidgeted nervously with the parchment he was holding. He had obviously been contemplating that particular question for a while.

Harry considered his answer carefully, "Well, Neville… I never knew your parents, but I think that after everything… I think they wouldn't care. And I think that if Blaise makes you happy, they would be happy."

Neville looked doubtful.

Harry smiled at him, "And if you can't take my word for it, you can owl Remus. I'm sure he wouldn't mind. He did say that he was pretty close to your parents back in the day and that he would be happy to answer any questions you have about your parents."

That seemed to brighten Neville up.

"Did I hear my name earlier?" a deep, smug voice asked from above them. Harry and Neville's heads both shot up in surprise to see Blaise Zabini, olive shining in the early October sun, standing in front of them with a large smile on his face. "Blaise!" Neville cried happily, but Harry's eyes were immediately drawn to the person standing behind him. Draco, porcelain skin looking even paler under the bright layers of the sun, smiled warmly at Harry. Harry grinned back and motioned for the Slytherin to take a seat right next to him.

"What are you two doing?" Blaise asked as he flopped down next to Neville and throwing an arm around his shoulders.

"Transfiguration homework," Neville answered, showing him. Blaise made a noise of dissatisfaction.

Blaise had met Harry and Neville in the Gryffindor corridor after they'd gotten back from St. Mungos. After asking Neville a thousand times if he was alright and using a tissue he had in his coat pocket ("Don't worry, it's unused," he'd assured Neville with a small grin.) to wipe away the remnants of dried tears, he'd asked Harry if he was okay with their relationship. Harry had assured him that if he made Neville happy, then he was okay with it. But he'd also made sure to tell Blaise that if he _ever _hurt his best friend, he'd skin the Slytherin alive. Blaise had agreed readily and the two had been kinda-sorta friends since.

"Have you finished your Potions essay?" Draco asked, sitting down gracefully next to Harry in the soft grass. He took a moment to admire how Harry looked sitting under the tall oak tree. The Gryffindor's slightly tanned skin seemed to shine and his green eyes were sparkling and, as usual, their intensity stunned Draco.

"Yeah, actually," Harry answered, reaching into the bag that lay by his side and pulling out a long row of parchment. "I think I actually went over the required lengths. I was hoping you'd check it over?"

"Of course," Draco smiled and took the parchment. As Draco checked over Harry's essay, Blaise and Neville engaged the dark-haired Gryffindor in conversation.

"Are you playing Quidditch this year, Po—Harry?" Blaise asked, pulling Neville closer to his side.

Harry shook his head and leaned back against the old tree. "No," he answered. "My mind's not in Quidditch this year. I've got too much going on. I thought I'd dedicate this year to my studies."

"Really?" Blaise studied Harry curiously. "What are you looking to become when you get out of school?"

Harry grinned a bit sheepishly and studied the ground, "I, um, I actually want to become a Healer."

Draco brought his eyes up from Harry's essay, looking a bit shocked, "Really? I would have thought you'd become an Auror."

Harry shifted, uncomfortable now that all three of his friends' attention was on him. "Well, I want to help people—that's just who I am—but I don't want to fight anymore that I have to. Healer was the next best option. Besides, being an Auror's not really me."

"What specific field?

"I haven't really thought about it," Harry admitted.

"My cousin Ontario is a Healer," Blaise said. "He works in the children's war at st. Mungos. He works mostly with children who have cancer and some other diseases. He says that there are so many fields for a Healer to go into: Children's care, Dragon Pox specialist, Female pregnancy specialist, _male_ pregnancy specialist—""

"Wait," Harry interjected, wide-eyed. "Male wizards can get pregnant?"

Blaise looked puzzled, "Of course. How did you not know—"

"He was raised by Muggles, Blaise," Neville told his boyfriend.

Blaise blinked, "He was?"

Neville rolled his eyes.

Harry chuckled, "Yes. I was raised by my mom's sister and husband. They're both Muggles."

"What was it like growing up in a Muggle household?" Blaise asked enthusiastically. "Was it horrible?"

Harry grinned, "Pretty horrible, considering they hated magic, my parents, and me. I'm surprised they didn't throw me into an orphanage or a dumpster."

Blaise and Neville laughed, but Draco listened with a frown.

They were all quiet for a while, Harry and Neville finishing up their homework, Draco checking Harry's Potions essay, and Blaise watching them.

"I'm done," Draco announced, handing Harry his essay.

"How is it?" Harry asked nervously, placing it neatly in his bag.

"It was really good," Draco nodded with a smile. "It seems like you've actually been paying attention."

Harry grinned happily.

"So, Harry," Neville grinned. "Are you excited for your date with Steven?"

Harry's grin slipped off his face and he cast a nervous glance at Draco. There was no longer a playful glint in the Slytherin's eye. His jaw was clenched, his eyes hard, and his shoulders tense. He glared straight in front of him, as if he couldn't bear to look at Harry. Harry felt a bit hurt by the fact.

"I'm… pretty excited, I guess," Harry turned back to Neville and Blaise and forced a smile onto his face. "He cornered me this morning after breakfast to make sure we were still on for tomorrow. He seems pretty excited. I think it'll be fun." He turned to Draco, desperate to get him to talk, "Are you going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"

Draco shrugged, "I don't know. I might."

Harry bit his lip and turned back to his Transfiguration homework. Not for the first time, he wondered why Draco was so opposed to Harry going on a date with Steven. Steven seemed nice enough. Harry didn't think it mattered that Steven had slept around before. That didn't mean Harry couldn't give him a chance. He didn't know why Draco cared so much, either. It wasn't like it was any of his business, and besides, Draco had never shown any interest in Harry's relationship life before, so why had he started now?

Blaise seemed to notice the tension between Harry and Draco and decided to strike up a conversation about the new, dangerous plant they were growing in Herbology, leaving Harry and Draco to brood in silence.

* * *

"I still don't think you should go on a date with him," Draco muttered crossly as he and Harry made their way down to the Great Hall.

Draco had been waiting for Harry outside the portrait of the Fat Lady early that morning and had decided to walk him down to breakfast. He's already told Harry three times that morning how he didn't think it was a good idea for Harry to go on a date with Steven.

"Is that the only reason you met me this morning, Draco?" Harry rolled his eyes and stopped, turning to look the Slytherin in the eye. "To tell me yet again how you don't like the idea of me going on a date with Steven? Why do you hate the idea so much?"

Draco sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I've told you before, Harry. He's known for sleeping around _and_ cheating. You have no idea how many hearts he's broken. You're my friend, Harry. I just don't want you to get hurt."

Harry's gaze softened and he smiled softly. "I'm a big boy, Draco. I can take care of myself."

"I know," Draco finally looked at Harry. "You've proved that time and time again, but that doesn't mean you're invincible. I guess I can't change your mind about going out with him, can I?"

Smiling, Harry shook his head.

Draco sighed dejectedly, "Well, if I can't convince you not to go out with him, at least promise me that you'll be careful and that you'll tell me if he hurts you."

Draco nodded, seemingly satisfied with this answer.

"Harry!"

_Damn him!_ Draco groaned in his head.

Steven was running toward the pair from the direction they were walking in. his brown hair was pulled back into a small pony tail at the nape of his neck and his blue eyes were sparkling with mischief.

"Hi, Steven," Harry smiled as the Ravenclaw stopped in front of them.

Steven grinned and looked at Draco. The grin slipped of his face. "Malfoy," he said disdainfully.

Draco lifted his chin and answered haughtily, "Hawk."

Steven turned back to Harry, "Since when do you hang out with _him?_"

Harry glanced back and forth between Draco and Steven nervously, "Um—"

"Professor Slughorn assigned me as Harry's Potions tutor," Draco said, smirking at the look on Steven's face. "We're friends now."

"Hmm," Steven smirking at Draco. "Too bad that's all you'll ever be."

Draco made an outraged noise and Harry looked at him, confused. "What does he mean, Draco?"

"I don't know what he means, Harry," Draco snarled angrily, glaring at Steven fiercely.

Harry shrank away from the Slytherin, staring at Draco in shock and mild fear. Draco looked shocked at Harry's reaction.

Steven smirked and threw an arm around Harry's shoulders. "Sure you don't," he told Draco, steering Harry away.

Draco bristled angrily. How _dare_ that idiot _man-whore_ touch Harry like that? Like Harry was his. Draco had news for him.

"C'mon, Harry," Steven was telling the smaller boy. "Let's go."

"Wait," Harry pulled away from Steven and turned to Draco. Draco felt a small glimmer of hope in his chest. "Do you want to walk to Hogsmeade with us?" Harry asked.

Draco wanted to roll his eyes, "No, thanks. I'll wait for Blaise. You go on."

Harry looked mildly disappointed, but before he could say anything, Steven grabbed his hand and pulled him away.

"Draco?" Blaise stepped up behind him.

Draco turned around to face his friend and smirked, despite the fact that the furious glint was still in his eyes.

* * *

Harry giggled again as Steven caught him around the waist, spun his around, and planted a kiss on his cheek. They had been at Hogsmeade for the better part of the day and they were now heading back up the pathway that led them to the carriages that would take them back to Hogwarts. The day had gone by relatively uneventfully. They had started out their day by just walking around Hogsmeade, talking and getting to know each other. Then, they had gone to Honeydukes, where Steven had bought Harry so many chocolates and sweets that Harry was sure he'd still have plenty left over well after Christmas. They had then gone to the Three Broomsticks to eat lunch and had stayed there the rest of the day, talking, laughing, and having a good time. The whole time, however, Steven kept a tight, possessive arm around Harry's shoulders or waist, and Harry found it rather unsettling. He had never really been one for human contact like that and didn't really know what to make of it. It made him uncomfortable, but he didn't protest.

"So, Harry," Steven grinned, setting Harry down. "Shall we do this again sometime?"

Harry found himself giggling again and cursed himself for acting like a lovesick schoolgirl. "Yes," he answered simply, smiling.

Steven's eyes twinkled as he grabbed Harry's hand and led them forward.

Quite suddenly, there was a shout from behind them, sounding almost like someone was aiming a curse at them. Harry and Steven both whipped around, drawing their wands, but there was no one there. In fact, the path they were on was oddly deserted and silent.

"C'mon, Harry," Steven said, grabbing the Gryffindor's hand. "Let's get out of h—"

He stopped talking suddenly as he looked at Harry and dropped the boy's hand as if it had burned him. He took several steps back, on hand coming to cover his mouth as he looked Harry up and down.

"What?" Harry asked urgently. "What is it?"

Steven continued to stare at Harry in astonishment before the corner of his mouth quirked upward and he tried and failed to hide a snort of amusement.

"What?" Harry asked again, even more frantically. "What's so funny? What's wrong with me?"

This seemed to send Steven over the edge and he doubled over, laughing so hard he shook. He wordlessly pulled something out of his pocket and, still laughing, handed it to Harry. Upon inspection, Harry found that it was a small compact mirror. He eagerly looked at himself and gasped.

Warts covered his face. Not just those small, barely noticeable warts that you get every now and then. Huge, ugly, _green_ warts that stood out vividly against his pale skin. Whoever had yelled that curse earlier must've done it. But he hadn't _felt_ anything happen to him.

Harry looked back over at Steven who was still laughing heartily. _Laughing at him._ Before he couldn't stop them, tears welled up in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.

"You _jerk_!" he yelled at the Ravenclaw. "It's not _funny_!"

He whirled around and stormed off in the direction of Hogsmeade, ignoring Steven's halfhearted cried for him to come back and that he was sorry for laughing, but Harry could hear the amusement coloring his voice.

Head ducked, face burning with humiliation, tears finally dripping down his face, Harry made his way through the streets of Hogsmeade toward the Shrieking Shack, using his long hair to hide his face. He hoped no one saw him.

"Harry!"

Harry stopped at the sound of Draco's voice. He trembled as he felt Draco come nearer.

"Harry, what's wrong? I saw you running off. What hap—oh…"

Draco had grabbed Harry's shoulder and turned him around. He'd seen the warts and was now staring at Harry in shocked silence, eyes wide, mouth hanging open.

"Are you going to laugh too?" Harry asked, his voice angry and hard despite the way it wobbled. He took several steps back. "Well, go on, then!"

"What?" Draco shook himself out of his stupor and stepped forward. "No Harry. I would _never_ laugh at something like this. Who laughed at you?"

Harry lowered his head.

"It was Steven wasn't it?" Draco said angrily. "He laughed at you? That bastard!" He reached forward and wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders, drawing him into his side. "C'mon, then. Let's get you back to Hogwarts so we can get that cleared up."

Harry refused to budge and wrung his hands nervously. "Draco? Can we not go that way? I don't want anyone to see me."

Draco looked puzzled, "How are we going to get back to Hogwarts then?"

Harry smiled sheepishly, "I know a secret passageway through the shrieking Shack."

Draco studied him quizzically, "Alright."

* * *

Harry sat very still as Draco gently applied the baby blue cream looking stuff to the warts on his face. they had thankfully gotten back to Draco's rooms without running into anybody and were now sitting on the couch in front of the fire as Draco applied what he called "Wart Reducer" to Harry's face.

"How did you know that this stuff would make them go away?" Harry asked, eyeing the jar in Draco's hand.

Draco grinned, "This particular curse was a very common prank among the Slytherin boys for a long time. Madam Pomfrey got so fed up with having to heal it that she started giving us full jars of it and even taught some of us how to make it. It lost its magic after that, so people stopped doing it."

Harry nodded and leaned back against the couch as Draco continued to apply the cream to his face.

When Draco was finished, he leaned back to admire his handiwork. Unexpectedly, the Slytherin chuckled, a smile coming over his face. Then he chuckled again, and again.

"Not you too!" Harry moaned miserably, covering his face as more humiliated tears came to his eyes.

"No, no. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Draco quickly covered his mouth to stop more chuckled from escaping. "I'm not laughing at you. It's just… with the green warts and blue paste it looks so… so…"

Draco grabbed Harry's hands and pulled them away from his face, "Are you mad at me now?"

Harry sniffed and shook his head, "No… I must look pretty stupid, huh?"

Draco quickly shook his head, "Not stupid… Colorful."

That drew a smile and a chuckle from the Gryffindor. Draco grinned and ruffled Harry's hair.

"Stop it!" Harry whined, attempting to flatten his hair down. "How long do we have to wait for this stuff to take effect?"

"Well," Draco said thoughtfully, studying the warts on Harry's face. "It's already starting to reduce them, so probably another five minutes, and then we can take it off."

Harry nodded and they sat in a comfortable silence for a while, neither one realizing that Draco was still holding Harry's hands between his gently.

* * *

"Alright, let's get this off your face," Draco said as he came back from the bathroom with a wet washrag. Harry watched Draco as he sat down next to him and began gently washing the blue paste from his face.

"There," Draco gently washed off the last bit of paste. "Good as new."

Harry didn't have to look in the mirror to confirm what Draco said. If the Slytherin said it, it was true.

"Thank you," he said softly, looking up in Draco's eyes.

Draco smiled, "You're welcome, Harry. Do you know who did this to you?"

Harry shook his head, "No. we heard them shout the curse, but I didn't know the voice and I didn't see him when I turned around." He paused for a second, "Draco… how did you know that whoever it was used the exact same curse on me that the Slytherin boys used?"

Draco hesitated for a fraction of a second before saying confidently, "Well, I didn't, but it sure looked a lot like it."

Harry studied him for a moment before nodding and turning to stare into the fire.

"So how did your date with Steven go?"

Harry smiled a bit, despite the fact that he was currently mad at the Ravenclaw. "It actually wasn't that bad. He was nice and funny and polite. He bought me loads of sweets at Honeydukes and bought lunch at the Three Broomsticks. He asked me if he wanted to go on another date with him sometime."

Draco studied Harry out of the corner of his eye, "Are you?"

The smile slid off the Gryffindor's face, "I said I would, but I don't know anymore. Do I really want to go out with someone who won't help me if something like this happens? Who will only laugh?"

Draco turned to him, "I don't know. Do you?"

Harry sat in a contemplative silence for a moment. Steven seemed really nice and sweet, and had been the whole time they'd been on their date, but if he was going to sit there and laugh when Harry needed help, then…

"No," he said finally. "No, I don't."

Draco grinned at him, "'Bout time you saw reason."

Harry smacked his arm, "Shut up."

Draco laughed quietly and they were silent again.

That is… until Harry's stomach gave a loud roar.

Draco burst out laughing and Harry blushed furiously. "Stop laughing!" he wined. "It's not funny!"

"You're right, it's not," Draco schooled his features so that he wouldn't look amused. It didn't last long, however, as Harry was still pouting.

Unable to help himself, Draco seized Harry's face in his hands and, laughing, exclaimed, "You're too adorable!"

The blush that was still lingering on Harry's cheeks came back ten fold and he averted his eyes. The feel of Draco's hand on his cheeks sent delightful tingles down his neck and shoulders and Harry didn't know what to do.

Draco laughed again and let go of Harry's cheeks, much to the Gryffindor's disappointment and relief. Standing, Draco called for Dobby and asked him to bring them some sandwiches. Dobby reappeared soon, placed the sandwiches on the table, and disappeared again.

Draco flopped down next to Harry again and picked up a sandwich. "Peanut butter and jelly," he announced proudly.

"These are a Muggle delicacy," Harry informed him matter-of-factly as he picked up a sandwich for himself.

"Really?"

Harry nodded as he took a bite.

"I never knew that," Draco murmured thoughtfully.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a long while as they ate their sandwiches, each lost in their own thoughts.

Draco looked up at Harry to tell him something but stopped short. Harry had a small smear of jelly on his right cheekbone and he looked so adorable that Draco had to chuckle. Harry looked up at him quizzically and Draco shook his head.

"You've got something on your cheek," he explained. "Here, let me…"

Draco reached over and gently wiped away the smear with his thumb. "There you go," he murmured, though he didn't take away his hand from Harry's cheek.

Harry stared up at him with wide green eyes and Draco found himself mesmerized. His gaze slid lower to Harry's delightfully full, pink lips.

"Thank you," Harry murmured.

Harry's lips were begging Draco to kiss them. Draco slid his faze back to Harry's eyes, only to find that they were saying the same.

"Draco…?" Harry whispered.

Closing his eyes and praying that he was making the right decision, Draco leaned forward and sealed their lips together.

* * *

**A/N: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Don't be mad at me for leaving it there! *runs and hides in corner* But I think this may be my longest chapter yet, so yay!**

**Review? Please? :) **


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